The exact date you should list your home

Plus, 4% rates + A house for the crypto curious

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  March 19, 2022 | Issue #34

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Good morning! This week we're talking about the best time to sell, mortgage rates and a house with a crypto surprise built in. Plus, the great cooktop debate. This is the exact date you should list your home for sale Money; Getty Images Mark your calendar. If you are planning to sell your home this year, Realtor.com says you should list it the week of April 10 for maximum impact. Housing market conditions are supposed to most favor sellers that week. Those factors include —   Strong demand: During the same week in 2021, almost a third more buyers viewed online listings than in a standard week. Less competition: Typical inventory trends would mean 6.2% fewer sellers on the market compared to the average week throughout the year. High prices: The national median list price is forecast to be $39,000 higher that week than it was at the start of 2022. Fewer price reductions: There are typically 14% fewer price reductions during that key week compared to a normal one. To be clear, the week of April 10 to 16 is not necessarily when any of these seller-friendly metrics will peak, but it does offer the ideal balance of price to competition. As of the time this newsletter arrived in your inbox, you have 22 days to prepare. Not sure where to begin? Here's a to do list to get you started —   Find a real estate agent to market the property. Walk through the home as if you were a buyer. Look for damage and anything that may appear dated. Make a list of improvements you've made (and include the dates you made them). Also note when items like the roof, HVAC system and water heaters were last replaced even if not by you. Decide what improvements and repairs you'll make before listing. Focus on projects that will add value and help you find a buyer faster. Declutter and deep clean to show your home in the best possible light. For more: Here's the Best Time to Sell Your Home in 2022 Also: 7 Home Improvement Projects That Actually Pay Off When You Sell and 5 Affordable Ways to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal Before You Sell From our sponsor The home loan experience designed for you. Presented by  Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage, the nation's largest home mortgage lender and part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), enables the American dream of homeownership and financial freedom through its obsession with an industry-leading, digital-driven client experience. In late 2015, it introduced the first fully digital, completely online mortgage experience and in 2020, closed $320 billion dollars of mortgage volume across all 50 states. Start your home buying journey with numbers you can trust. Apply for a mortgage online with Rocket Mortgage. NMLS #3030 Well, that was fast Mortgage rates vaulted over a major psychological barrier this week.  On average, lenders are now charging 4.16% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac's latest weekly tally. Rates have only consistently been above 3% since November and have not crossed the 4% mark in over two-years.   At this rate, your monthly principal and interest payments on a new $300,000 loan would be $160 higher than if you bought at the start of 2022 (when the average rate was just 3.22%). The latest jump came as the Federal Reserve announced it is raising short-term borrowing costs for financial institutions and expects to enact six more increases in the coming months.   TL;DR: Expect mortgage rates to continue rising over the course of this year as a result. A house for the crypto curious Powelton Digital Media, courtesy Compass A home listed for sale in Philadelphia this week claims to include "the world's first crypto fixture." Owner Mark Masih, who is also the listing agent on the property, installed a Helium hotspot he says will provide the buyer with passive income. Never heard of Helium? Same. Apparently, it's a network designed for the "internet of things," meaning it can be used to locate stuff like shared electric scooters and smart thermostats. Unlike most other networks, the Helium network is owned by the people who have Helium hotspots in their homes or offices. Each hotspot is rewarded HNT, a cryptocurrency, as payment for helping data move over the Helium network. Masih estimates that at HNT's current price someone could earn the equivalent of $80 a month through the hotspot. Not bad, but it's also cool if you just like the place for its trendy white-and-black facade or the subway-tile backsplash in the kitchen. Asking price: $239,900   H/t: Philadelphia Magazine Cooktop controversy Like many home cooks, I love my gas stove. I love the temperature control it provides and the deep flavors you get from cooking over a high flame. But I've also been thinking about air quality and the environment lately. The tension between these things started to become clear when I bought an air purifier last year (inspired by this Money story on healthy homes). Every time I cook, a light at the top blinks red. Seems, uh, not great. A recent story from The New York Times presents an intriguing solution: induction. Unlike electric stoves, cooks say induction cooktops provide power and precision (and are easier to clean than gas). Many in the green energy movement also see induction as an on-ramp to lowering the carbon footprint of your home. Starting at $1,000, induction is more expensive than gas. However, it is a lot less expensive than an electric furnace or water heater. Replacing those would have a bigger environmental impact, but advocates say starting with a new stove may help break your attachment to a gas line. A few years ago, research from Freddie Mac showed that homes with strong energy efficiency ratings sold for 2.7% more than ones without. Other research shows that homebuyers are increasingly considering climate risk when they make a purchase, so going green could be a good longterm bet. Happy hunting, P.S. Share your home selling tips with me on Twitter @samsharf or via e-mail at sam.sharf@money.com. P.P.S. Have a friend who loves real estate or is looking for a home of their own? Please forward them this email or send them to the Money Moves subscription page. Money's Essential Home Buying Resources: Winter 2022 On the hunt? Check out Money's Mortgage Calculator, see The Best Mortgage Lenders and look at the latest mortgage rates Thinking of refinancing? Our list of The Best Mortgage Refinance Companies can help. You can also use our Mortgage Refinance Calculator or these refi tips Key question: How much house can I afford?

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